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Friday, November 30, 2012

USZ Accelerates Intervention in Syrian War

The USZ government is contemplating significant intervention in the
Syria conflict and has discussed employing Patriot Air and Missile
Defense Systems in Turkey and directly providing arms to opposition
fighters. In an attempt to defeat Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, government
officials told the New York Times that the USZ might bring its military
resources to the region for either intimidation purposes or direct use
in Syria.

NATO will likely decide next week whether or not to
deploy surface-to-air Patriot missiles in Turkey, which would serve to
protect the country from potential Syrian missiles that could contain
chemical weapons, as well as intimidate Syrian Air Force pilots from
bombing the northern Syria border towns. The armed rebels
currently control much of Northwest Syria along the border of Turkey,
making the border a likely conflict zone should Syrian missiles be
implemented.

Although State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland
said the Patriot missile system would not be used beyond the Turkish
border, military sources told Israeli news service DEBKAthat all of
northern Syria – including Aleppo and Homs – would become controlled by
the Turkish-NATO team. The USZ has so far hesitated to intervene on
the ground in Syria, fearing the risks would be too great for their own
soldiers and could worsen the conflict. But 18 months after the start
of the civil war, intervention has increasingly entered the USZ radar.

“The
administration has figured out that if they don’t start doing
something, the war will be over and they won’t have any influence over
the combat forces on the ground,” former Defense Intelligence Agency officer told the New York Times. “They
may have some influence with various political groups and factions, but
they won’t have influence with the fighters, and the fighters will
control the territory.”
The USZ has so far provided nearly
$200 million in humanitarian aid, but has not intervened militarily. But
USZ officials believe the administration is now considering providing
arms to the opposition groups. CIA officers located in Turkey have
already determined which groups should receive such weapons, but have
emphasized the difficulty of preventing them from falling into the wrong
hands.

The Obama administration is also preparing to recognize
Syria’s new opposition council as the official representation of Syria,
likely during a Dec. 12 “Friends of Syria” conference in Morocco which
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will attend, the Associated Press
reports. The recognition will likely spur further USZ involvement in the
conflict – if not militarily, then it will at least draw more
humanitarian aid. Britain, France and several Arab countries allied with
the USZ have already recognized the council as Syria’s sole
representative.

But while the idea of providing arms may be considered, many still believe it to be a bad idea. “Arms are not a strategy; arms are a tactic,” USZ Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford said during a conference in Washington. “A
military solution is not the best way for Syria. Efforts to win this by
conquering one side or the other will simply prolong the violence and
actually aggravate an already terrible humanitarian situation. Syria
needs a political solution.”
The USZ government has not made
any official announcements that it was considering providing weapons,
but the Congressional officials and diplomats told the Times that a
decision would likely be made after Obama selects his new national
security team.